Two Less
by marksmom
Summary: After his divorce, Bill Weasley's chance meeting with someone in a pub leads to something better.  HP/BW - past HP/DM & BW/FD - Pre-slash - might not be a one-shot if reviews are favorable. Rated M for slash innuendo, some language and snogging.


_**DISCLAIMER:**_ I own none of these characters, if I did, I'd definitely have a larger house! Only the plot is mine. I get no money for this, just enjoyment.

_**SONGFIC:**_ Two Less Lonely People in the World - by Air Supply. I don't own that either!

_**TWO LESS**_

_I was down, my dreams were wearing thin._

_When you're lost, where do you begin?_

_My heart always seemed to drift from day to day,_

_Looking for the love that never came my way._

Bill sighed heavily.

Who knew that a much wanted divorce could make a person this lonely? His divorce from Fleur had been final for almost a year now. He hadn't wanted to be with anyone since he'd left. Having the woman you loved cheat on you with every man she could seduce was a little dampening on the ego. The old saying went that everyone knew, except for the one it most affected. That had been true in his case. He'd thought that Fleur was as faithful as he had been.

He hadn't known that, as soon as he left on one of Gringotts' frequent business trips, Fleur and several of her 'friends' would come back to the house to have sex all over every surface they could find to support their weight. Apparently, being a Veela went hand in hand with promiscuity. Now he knew why his Mum had so vocally opposed the marriage. Fleur had tried to seduce every male Weasley she could see, including his father and Harry Potter. It was just proof of how strong the Weasley family was, and how strong Harry's ties to them were, that none of them had been tempted. It was the only time her 'charms' hadn't worked.

Charlie had been the one to come to him and tell him. He had been the last one she had tried to seduce. After talking with the others, and having a very embarrassing conversation with Harry, he had gone to find Bill. Together, they had come up with a plan. Bill told Fleur that he was going on another business trip, right on the heels of one to Egypt. He'd made up some rubbish story about there being a new find he had to take care of. She had pouted, but had accepted it. He apparated to Charlie's flat, in Diagon Alley and they had waited until evening to go back to Shell Cottage. Feeling a little like a voyeur, he had watched his beautiful, sweet wife spread her legs for no fewer than five men that night. Charlie had taken wizard photos, so that Bill had proof when he went to the Ministry for a divorce. Charlie had had to side along apparate Bill back to his flat. Bill wouldn't have made it back in one piece.

He filed for divorce the next day. With the photos as his proof, the divorce went through quickly and with no problems. Fleur hadn't been happy. She had screamed and yelled at him when he came back, with Ron and Charlie, to pack his things, telling him he was a prude and that she could sleep with whomever she wanted. He finally saw the ugly side of his wife, the Veela part. He had turned his back and walked away. Then he had gone out with Charlie, Ron, Fred and George to get spectacularly drunk.

So, here he was, sitting in another pub, a little over one year later. This time without his brothers, although he was meeting Charlie here later. He had been nursing his glass of firewhiskey for about an hour, annoying the bartender in the process. He had about decided to leave and come back later, when Harry came into the pub. Well, _dragged_ into it was more appropriate. His arm was being held in a tight grip by a tall blonde wizard. Draco Malfoy, Bill recognized. They didn't see him and stopped about four feet away from his booth. He slid down in his seat to avoid being seen. Bill was pretty sure Harry would be embarrassed to know that Bill was about to witness what looked to be a nasty row.

"Why the hell are you so mad, Harry? It's not like we're bonded or anything."

Bill could hear the steeliness in Harry's voice as he answered the blonde. "You bloody well expect faithfulness from _**me**_, but _**you're**_ allowed to go out and sleep with any slag you find? Is that how you think relationships work, Draco? Is that what that _**father**_ of yours taught you?"

"Don't talk about my father, you know I hated the man. He killed my mother. He taught me nothing of any worth."

"Except how to use people. That's all I've been, isn't it? Someone convenient for you to use until someone _**worthy**_ of your pure blood comes along. This ends now, Draco. It's over. Finally. For the _**last**_ time. Don't bother me with your tripe anymore. I don't want to hear it again."

Draco Malfoy pushed past Harry to leave the pub. He heard Harry's controlled breathing slowly return to normal. Bill heard a soft thump and the sound of something sliding. He looked carefully around the corner of the booth. Harry was sitting on the floor, his knees pulled up and his arms resting outstretched on top of them, hands clasped. His back was to the other side of the booth. He wasn't crying, but he looked forlorn, lost.

Bill wrestled with himself for a quick moment before reaching out to touch Harry's shoulder.

_Then you smiled and I reached out to you. _

_I could tell you were lonely, too._

_One look, then it all began for you and me._

_The moment that we touched I knew that there would be..._

Harry felt a soft touch to his shoulder and spun up to his knees, wand drawn. He didn't want any more of Draco's shite. It wasn't Draco. Peripherally he took in the long red hair and dangling earring. It took another minute before he realized that he was looking at Bill Weasley. He was crouched down next to him, a look of concern on his face. _Shite! He must have overheard that mess with Draco_.

Bill's words confirmed it. "I'm sorry Harry. I couldn't help but overhear. I was sitting right on the other side of the booth. I'm sorry." He apologized again and held out his hand to help Harry to his feet.

Harry took Bill's hand and rose. He gasped as he felt a jolt along his arm. He looked at Bill and saw the look of confusion in his eyes as he stared at their clasped hands and Harry knew he'd felt it, too. _What the __**HELL**__was __**that**__?_ He'd never felt anything like that before. It was like a flash of electricity that shot up his arm, straight to his chest. He and Bill released each other's hand. Harry stared at his own hand, expecting to see something, anything, to explain that jolt. His hand was unmarked. Bill was doing the same thing. Harry rubbed his palm on the outside of his trousers, to try and get rid of that feeling.

Bill waved his hand at the booth. "Care to join me?"

Harry nodded. "Sure." After that scene with Draco, he felt the need for something stronger than the butterbeer he had back at his flat. Harry wasn't much of a drinker. Having never really gained much in height or weight, he didn't handle strong alcohol very well. The bartender came over to get Harry's order. "Firewhiskey, straight up." The bartender looked at him oddly. "No ice."

"Been spending time in Muggle London, Harry?" Bill recognized the term from his own haunting of Muggle pubs right after his divorce went through.

"A little, here and there. Mostly to get away from the reporters who always seem to follow me." Harry shook his head slightly. He hated the publicity that came from being 'The Boy Who Lived' and 'The Saviour of the Wizarding World'. One would think that, at 22, Harry wouldn't let the reporters get to him. But, it was hard. They seemed to follow him everywhere. One had even followed him into Muggle London last week, into Harrods, trying to see what Harry would buy there. Harry had been relieved when the reporter had given up when he made no move to go beyond the cafe and a cup of tea. Once the idiot had left, Harry then went to the men's department to get pants. Well, if bikini briefs could be considered pants. He didn't want the Wizarding World to know that Harry Potter preferred skimpy underclothes from Harrods.

Bill nodded. Harry remembered that he had been through a little of that when he'd filed for divorce from Fleur. Because of Ron's connection with Harry, the Weasleys had all had moments in the publicity spotlight. Fred and George had used their moment to their store's advantage. Bill's had come when the news of his impending divorce had been leaked to the _Daily Prophet_ by some lower Ministry official. When Harry had found out about it, he had threatened to use his name against the Ministry, unless the man was fired immediately. He had done the same at the _Daily_ _Prophet_. Which was how Rita Skeeter had found herself unemployed and completely unemployable. Harry had felt a vicious stab of joy when he found out. Very few people would dare to go against Harry Potter.

The bartender brought Harry his drink. He took a small sip, inhaling as it burned its way down to his stomach.

"How have you been, Bill?"

"Alright, I guess. I don't think I need to ask how you are, though." Bill gave Harry a slight grin.

Harry laughed. "No, I don't think you do. I'm sorry that you had to overhear that. It isn't something that I wanted to do in public, but it had been coming on for several weeks now." His jaw firmed. "I don't know where he gets off thinking..." Harry's voice trailed off as he remembered who he was speaking to. "I'm sorry, Bill." Harry flushed. "Didn't think" he mumbled in Bill's direction.

"It's alright Harry. Unfortunately it happens to the best of people all too often."

"What? The not thinking part or the being cheated on part?"

Bill laughed. "Both, actually. Seriously, though, how _**have**_ you been? I don't see or hear much about you anymore. And since Ron and Hermione are new parents, all they can think about is nappies, bottles and burps."

Harry smiled at him. _Bill's gorgeous when he laughs_, Harry thought. _Whoa! He's straight! Can't be thinking that about him._ Harry was having a hard time getting his unruly thoughts to cooperate. _Why not? You can think all you'd like. He'll never know!_ _You know you think he's gorgeous all the time. You always have._

How Harry kept up an intelligent conversation with Bill until Charlie arrived, he never knew. But he did. They talked about the latest additions to the Weasley family, Arthur's latest Muggle find and what Bill was doing for Gringotts in Diagon Alley. Harry kept feeling the ghost of that electric jolt in his chest. It would happen at odd times, like when Bill smiled. Bill smiled a lot, Harry found.

By the time Charlie arrived, Harry was almost melting in his seat. Not even Draco had made him feel like this. And Bill was straight. Was nothing ever fair in his world?

_Two less lonely people in the world_

_And it's gonna be fine._

_Out of all the people in the world,_

_I just can't believe you're mine._

_In my life, where everything was wrong,_

_Something finally went right._

Bill was enjoying talking to Harry, far more than he ever had before. Not that Harry hadn't been interesting before, but he'd been a kid. Now he was a man, a man who was now going what he went through a year ago. At least there was no messy divorce for him to go through.

He hadn't known that Harry was gay or, at the least, bisexual. He wondered if anyone knew. Probably Ron and Hermione, but not many more than that, he would guess. He wondered if his parents knew. Right forward thinking people, his parents. They hadn't even batted an eyelash when he'd told them, when he was 17, that he liked men as well as women. He hadn't known there was a word for it. His mother had supplied that word for him. Bisexual.

He thought that all of that had been over when he married Fleur. He deliberately hadn't looked at another person, man or woman, since falling for her. _Now,_ he thought, _time for me to get on with my life. Time for me._ He could be with whomever he wanted. He just didn't want anyone right now. _Except Harry_ his traitorous mind interjected. _You always thought that he was cute when he was younger. Now that he's a man, he's beautiful._

Bill mentally shook his head. Harry had just broken up with Draco Malfoy. How could he compare to the wealthy Slytherin? Not that he wanted Harry to compare him to Malfoy, but he couldn't help but wonder if Harry found him attractive.

He was having a difficult time keeping himself from reacting to Harry's nearness. The last time he had felt this way about the younger man had been at Ron and Hermione's wedding. The divorce proceedings had started and he was feeling very sorry for himself. He and Charlie had been sitting at their table, watching Ron dance with Ginny and Hermione dance with Harry. The way that Harry moved Hermione about the dance floor had had a strange effect on him. He'd not known that he could dance like that. Harry had always seemed to stumble and wasn't exactly the most graceful of persons. To see him dance, gliding across the floor, Hermione in his arms, had been a revelation...and torture.

Bill really hoped he was holding up his side of the conversation. He didn't think that he could tell anyone, had they asked, what he and Harry had talked about. He saw Charlie making his way across the pub. _Thank Merlin! Maybe I can get the one brain cell still working to cooperate now._

~OOooOO~

Charlie could feel the tension in the air from the moment that he walked up to the booth where Bill was sitting, talking to someone. He didn't recognize the spiky, longer black hair. He wondered who it was. Bill looked up and smiled at him. Charlie noticed that Bill's eyes seemed a trifle glazed and wondered how much he'd had to drink.

The other man, younger, but not by much, turned to look at him and smiled, too. "Harry? How've you been?" Charlie shook hands with the younger wizard and went to slide in next to Bill.

Harry stood, stopping him. "I'm sorry. I've got to go. Got to get some things from...well, have to get some things. Why don't you two stop by my place later on and we can catch up there?"

Charlie nodded and Harry gave them his address. "I'll see you two later, then." He smiled and left the pub.

Charlie turned to Bill. He watched Bill watch Harry leave. That look still in his eyes, Bill motioned to Charlie to sit. "How much have you had to drink?"

Bill blinked, the glazed look leaving his eyes. "This is my first. Why?"

"Just curious. The look in your eyes said that you'd already had a few. Guess I was wrong."

"No. Just this one. Been pissing off the bartender." Bill grinned and looked down at his drink.

Charlie signaled the bartender and ordered himself a firewhiskey. He looked at Bill. Other than being too thin, Bill looked alright. He wondered what had caused that look in his eyes. Then he remembered.

"Um, Bill? You realize that Harry's with Draco Malfoy, right?" Bill's head shot up. The surprise in his face would have been priceless, if it hadn't been for the guilt in his eyes. "I thought so. Look, Bill, Harry's been with Draco for a couple of years now. I wouldn't get my hopes up."

"They're not together. They broke up tonight. Over there." Bill gestured with his drink to the area behind the booth.

Charlie's eyebrows rose. "Now that's news. Harry broke up with him in public? Wonder how long that will last? They're usually on and off quite frequently."

Bill looked at Charlie. "How do you know so much about their relationship?"

"Harry comes to talk whenever Draco's being a prat. He's come over quite a lot lately. I was kind of expecting this."

"Doesn't Jenna mind?" Jenna was the former dragon handler's wife of 3 years.

"She loves Harry. She wants to feed him every time he comes over." Charlie looked around. "You ready for supper, then?"

Bill nodded and they left the pub, leaving a healthy tip for the disgruntled bartender.

~OOooOO~

Harry was waiting for Bill and Charlie to arrive. He hadn't seen Bill, before today, in almost a year. He looked thinner than Harry remembered, but other than that, he still looked the same. The same long hair, the same earring. The only time he had ever seen Bill wear a different earring was at his wedding to Fleur. The gold stud hadn't looked right on him.

Harry had noticed Bill before that, in fact Bill was the reason he had started questioning his sexuality. If he could find Bill attractive, that meant he wasn't straight, right? He had tested the waters with Ginny again, after the war. There had been no attraction. Ginny had noticed, and had called him on it. She felt that there was nothing behind the few kisses that Harry had allowed her. They had talked and he had admitted that he was attracted to men. She had been understanding. She said that she had been wondering for some time. She admitted to him that a lot of her attraction to him had been hero worship and awe. They had parted friends and she occasionally invited him to dinner with her fiance.

He couldn't believe that he had allowed Draco to treat him like he had. It seemed that, whenever he was around the blonde wizard, his backbone went out the door. Today had been the last straw. He'd seen Draco with another man, snogging each other passionately, in the back of Flourish and Blotts. Harry was supposed to meet Draco there, and then the two were going to go for supper, to celebrate their 3 year anniversary.

"Some anniversary present," Harry grunted.

He had known about the other men. It was kind of hard not to, when Draco's exploits were reported in the _Daily Prophet_ every other day. Fortunately, they had never known about Harry's relationship with Draco. They had both insisted that it be kept private. Harry, because he hadn't wanted to share his relationship with the entire wizarding world. He knew Draco hadn't been faithful. That was why Draco wanted to keep it private. So that he couldn't be seen being unfaithful to The Boy Who Lived.

He hated being alone. Harry supposed that it all stemmed back to his fear of rejection. Everyone who had meant something to him either died or left him alone. Not that he was upset that Ron and Hermione had married, but it was just one more thing that separated them. He was truly alone now. He didn't want to be alone, but he wasn't sure he could trust anyone right now.

He moved to open another bottle of butterbeer but decided he wanted something else. He reached for the one bottle of Muggle liquor he had stashed in his cold cupboard. He opened the bottle of rum and poured a healthy measure into a glass and added a mixer, so that he wouldn't get too drunk, too quickly. The first one went down so smoothly that he poured himself another. Then another. Gods, he hated being alone.

He heard a knock at his door and, putting his drink down on a side table, went to answer it. Bill and Charlie smiled, identical Weasley smiles, as he opened the door.

"C'mon in. Welcome to Chez Potter." He led them into the living room, grabbing his glass as he went. He missed the look the brothers exchanged when they saw the drink. They wondered how much he'd already had.

"Want anything to drink? I've got some more butterbeer or rum, if you want it." He indicated his drink.

"Thanks, but no. Jenna will kill me if I come home pissed. She still hasn't forgiven me for getting you drunk the last time you were over." Charlie chuckled as he remembered the rare sight of Harry being falling down drunk. "She told me that I wasn't allowed to do that again."

Bill laughed at Charlie's woebegone expression. Harry felt that jolt again, and put his drink down. He surreptitiously rubbed his hand on his trousers again. He didn't see Bill's eyes following his movements. Bill had felt the same jolt that Harry had. Bill, however, had some idea of what it might be.

He, being raised a wizard, had heard of soul mates. He'd even written a paper on it for one of his classes at Hogwarts. He knew that finding your soul mate was extremely rare, almost impossible, given the size of the world. Your soul mate could be anyone, wizard, witch, or even a muggle. When Bill had married Fleur, he had insisted on a regular marriage, not a bond. He hadn't wanted to bond with someone who wasn't his soul mate. It had been a good decision, looking back now. It was next to impossible to dissolve a bond.

Harry knew something was wrong with him. He couldn't keep his palm from itching. The feeling was irritating and downright scary. He wondered if he had touched something that he was allergic to. He knew he couldn't eat oranges and couldn't have Veritaserum administered to him, but there wasn't anything else he was allergic to, was there? He rubbed his hand on his trousers, desperately trying to get rid of that feeling.

Charlie noticed what Harry was doing. "Is something wrong with your hand, Harry?"

"It itches like hell and it won't stop!" He gave up rubbing his palm and was openly scratching it with his other hand. Suddenly, his whole body jerked and went stiff, before collapsing on the sofa.

_**"Harry!"**_ Bill jumped out of the chair and tried to make his way to Harry's side. His legs gave out, just before he reached him. He crawled the remainder of the way and grabbed Harry's right hand with his. His own body stiffened and then everything closed in on him. He never heard Charlie's frantic yells or the desperate fire-calls to the Burrow and St. Mungo's.

~OOooOO~

Bill woke slowly. He was lying on his back in a meadow. His right hand still clasped tightly with Harry's. Harry was sitting next to him, staring at him.

"Harry? Where are we?"

"I think I'm dreaming. I'm not really sure, though. I've never been able to pull anyone into a dream before. Do you think we're dead?" His voice was scared and Bill felt his hand tremble slightly.

"No. I don't think so. I can hear Charlie's voice. Where are we?" He sat up and looked around. They were sitting in a meadow, just over the wall from the Burrow. "Home. But why are you dreaming about the Burrow?"

"It's always felt like home to me. Your Mum and Dad have always made me feel welcome. I guess that this is the first comfortable place my mind could come up with." Harry laid his head in Bill's lap and looked up at him, never letting go of Bill's hand.

"I love you, you know. Have for a long time."

"I'm not sure what I feel right now, Harry. I find you immensely attractive, but I've just got to the point that I can trust someone again. There is something there, though."

"I know. I don't want you to think that you have to say anything in return. I just wanted you to know."

"What about Draco?"

"I never loved him. Oh, it was great for a short while, then the cheating started. He was expected to see and be seen. If it ever got out that he was cheating on me, of all people, his little world would come crashing down on him. So, I was the relationship that no one knew about. No one, except for Charlie and Jenna."

"Not even Ron and Hermione?"

"No. They were too wrapped up in each other to pay me any mind. Not that I want to take that away from them, but, at times, it seems as if they've forgotten I exist. I gravitated to the first person to show me any affection. It wasn't moonlight and roses, by any means, but it was a relationship." he sighed. "I hate being alone. It scares me. Reminds me too much of growing up with my aunt and uncle. I was always alone, always the strange one." He looked up at Bill. "I didn't know my name was Harry until I was about 4. I thought my name was Boy or Freak."

Bill felt himself getting angry. "Did they...did they touch you?"

"You mean beat me? No, never anything that abnormal. They just wouldn't feed me. If I did anything wrong, set one thing out of place, stepped a fraction too far over the invisible line, they would take away food. I learned, very early on, how to unlock my cupboard and steal food."

"Cupboard? They kept you in a _**cupboard?**_" Bill was having a hard time controlling himself. How could anyone treat his Harry that way? Whoa...**_his_** Harry? _Well, yeah. If he's my soul mate, he's **my** Harry._

"Don't be angry. It's long over with."

"If we'd known...if you'd told Mum or Dad, we could have gotten you out of there."

"I'd have been dead inside of a week, and you know it. Voldemort would have killed me, either himself or sent someone to do it for him. That house and Hogwarts were the only safe places for me to be." Harry sighed and sat back up. He looked at their joined hands.

"I wonder if this is the reason you're here."

"I don't think so. Harry, have you ever heard of soul mates?"

"Yes. Do you think we're soul mates?" His green eyes were wide as Bill nodded. Harry thought that it was wonderful to have Bill as a soul mate. He was handsome, charming, intelligent and caring. He knew that Fleur had hurt Bill deeply, just as Draco had hurt him. Only Bill's situation was worse. Bill had loved Fleur, where Harry hadn't loved Draco.

He didn't know what he had felt for Draco, but it hadn't been love. Like,maybe? Definitely lust, but there had been something more, at least for a little while. He knew Draco didn't love him. Men like Draco didn't fall in love, they existed on a higher plane than that, at least in their own minds.

He tightened his grip on Bill's hand and raised it to his lips. "How long do you think I'm going to dream like this? I'm pretty sure you have better things to do."

"No, I don't. I'm positive that we are soul mates, Harry. There's nothing I would rather do right now, than stay here with you. Your mind called out to me. You collapsed on the sofa and I collapsed on the floor, after taking your hand. You needed me for some reason. I'm going to assume that it's because your soul needs healing of some sort."

"Maybe yours does, too. I realize that you love Fleur..."

"Loved, Harry. Past tense. Once I saw what kind of person she really was, I didn't want that in my life. It took everything in me to leave, but I started to heal almost immediately. I was sitting in that pub earlier, trying to figure out where I wanted my life to go. I want to share it with someone. I would like that person to be you, but you and Malfoy just broke up."

Harry chuckled. "Yeah, for the last time. The other times, I just kept going right back after a couple of days. Draco would apologize and it would be fine for a couple of weeks or a month or two. Then it would start all over again. This time, I just couldn't take it anymore. It was too much, trying to be something I'm not."

Harry sighed and looked at Bill. "I need someone who will be there, someone who will help me, stay with me...love me." The last was said in such a longing tone that Bill felt his heart clench.

"I think...I think I could love you, Harry. I'm fairly certain that I've already started falling. I don't think I want to stop falling in love with you. If we go back, can we try? You know, take it slow, see where it goes? I won't hurt you, and I know that you won't hurt me." Bill held his breath.

Harry sat up and moved until he was sitting in Bill's lap. "I would like to try. I would like that very much. How do you think your family will take it?"

"They've known for years that I'm bisexual, so this shouldn't phase them."

Harry's smile was brilliant. "You're bi? I didn't know."

"Not many people, other than family, do. It's not something I wanted to get out."

Harry slowly leaned in, giving Bill more than enough time to pull back. He pressed his lips to Bill's and sighed happily. A golden glow surrounded them, startling them apart.

"What is that?"

"I don't know...maybe something to do with us being soul mates. Maybe because we found out and accepted it?" Bill pressed his lips against Harry's again and then deepened the kiss. There was nothing overly sexual in the kiss, but there was happiness and joy.

"Do you think it's time to go back? I think everyone will be worried." Bill kissed Harry lightly.

"Yeah...but how? How do we go back?"

"Just concentrate, I think. Maybe that should do it."

Harry cuddled into Bill's chest and looked up at him. "See you back there."

~OOooOO~

Charlie sat next to the enlarged hospital bed at St. Mungo's. It had been three weeks since Harry and Bill had collapsed, holding each other's hand. No one had been able to figure out what was going on, but it was like they were sleeping. One healer had suggested that Harry had drawn Bill into a dream when he collapsed. Apparently, for someone as powerful as Harry, it wasn't that uncommon to do something like this. The healers had tried, but had been unable to separate their hands, so they lay on the bed, facing each other

He rubbed his hands over his tired lower back. He knew that sitting here wasn't going to bring either one back from where they were, but he couldn't make himself leave. He felt responsible. Jenna Weasley stood in the doorway, watching her husband.

"You can't blame yourself, Honey."

"I know that, but try telling it to my heart. I feel like I should have done something. But, before I could stop Bill, he had ahold of Harry's hand and fell over. I feel responsible."

"Love, there's more going on here than anyone can see. If Harry did pull Bill into a dream, there has to be a reason." She walked over to Charlie and put her arms around him.

She looked over at the bed and gasped. A soft golden glow surrounded the two men and contented smiles settled on both of their faces. She and Charlie looked at each other. Jenna quickly left the room and gathered all of the family and friends in the waiting room. Charlie stood next to the bed and watched as first Harry's eyes opened and then Bill's.

As Charlie watched, Harry lifted his left hand to place it on Bill's cheek. The look of tenderness in his eyes was astounding. They separated their hands and reached out for each other. Charlie heard his family pouring in the door, to surround the bed. Either not noticing, or not caring, Bill pulled Harry into his arms and began to gently snog him.

The two men realized they were being watched when the assembled crowd gasped. Their lips parted and they looked around, then back at each other.

"Where are we?"

Charlie spoke up. "St. Mungo's. I had you brought here when I couldn't wake you."

"How long have we been here?"

"Three weeks."

Harry's eyes widened. _**"Three weeks?"**_ He looked back at Bill. "I guess time passes more slowly wherever we were."

Bill nodded and looked at the expectant faces around them. "I guess some explanations are in order."

Both he and Harry levered themselves to a sitting position, Harry quickly moving to sit in Bill's lap. This caused some more gasps and a lot of raised eyebrows.

Both men flushed, but Harry made no move to leave the comfort of Bill's arms. "Harry is my soul mate." He looked at Charlie. "Remember when he was scratching his hand?" Charlie nodded. "He and I felt the connection in the pub that day. I guess his reaction was much stronger than mine was. His soul was starved for affection and comfort. Because I was raised in such a loving atmosphere, my soul didn't feel it needed to react strongly."

Harry took up the story, telling them what had happened and where they had been. To them, it had seemed no longer than an hour or two. Molly was the first to walk up to them. She pulled both men into her arms and hugged them tightly. "I am very happy for you."

Everyone moved to congratulate them before making themselves scarce. Harry looked at Bill and he returned the look.

"What now? How do we do this?"

"One day at a time. We take it slowly." Bill's lips met Harry's again, and he could taste the hint of forever.

_Just to think, what I might have missed,_

_Looking back, how did I exist?_

_I've dreamed, still I never thought I'd come this far,_

_But miracles come true, I know, 'cause here we are._

_Two less lonely people in the world_

_And it's gonna be fine._

_Out of all the people in the world,_

_I just can't believe you're mine._

_In my life where everything was wrong,_

_Something finally went right._

_Now there's two less lonely people in the world, tonight._


End file.
